At Last
by OldSFfan
Summary: Continues the story of how Cuddy comes back into House's life. A story in 10 parts (published in 5 chapters). Rated T to be safe with language and a sexual situation. A couple years after Season 8.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own House, Wilson, Cuddy, or Rachel, or the rest of the gang, and this fiction is not intended to violate the owners' copyrights. How did Cuddy come back into House's life, post Season 8? This is a sequel to my story "To Err, to Forgive" and a prequel to "Writer's Block" and "Visiting Day." It is episodic and will be posted two chapters at a time. I won't post until it is all written, because I have left at least one story hanging in Airwolf fan fiction and my muse has deserted me (mea culpa, mea culpa). David Schiff is an original character.

At Last

I. Cuddy in Full Armor

The intercom from the loft's lobby buzzed, right on time. Wilson pressed the button. "James, it's me, Lisa."

"Come on up, Lisa," Wilson told her, as he pressed the button to open the door.

House sat at the organ and played some Bach, because it seemed appropriate to the organ. A non-alcoholic beer rested on top of the organ on a coaster and his cane leaned against the wall. He stopped and rose, waiting for Cuddy to sweep through the door. He had hoped she would bring Rachel with her this time, but she had begged off, explaining that she had to attend a meeting. He was breathing a little harder than usual, in anticipation of her visit.

She was in full armor, four-inch heels, gray wool business suit, ivory silk blouse, pearls. Her earrings, also pearls, were conservative as well. Wilson stepped forward to greet her, kissed her on the cheek, and took her hands. "Ah, that's the Doctor Cuddy I remember," he said.

"And you're looking so much better. I was so relieved to hear that your surgery went well."

"It did. So far no sign of metastises. I'm back to work for a few hours a day."

"Oh, thank God," she murmured fervently. She walked over to House and stood on tiptoes as he leaned down so she could kiss his cheek. "And thank you."

Wilson gestured to the chairs and sofa. "Sit. Kick off your shoes. We're both still staying away from the good stuff, but I can get you a glass of wine or beer, if you'd like."

"I'll have whatever you're having." Cuddy settled herself in an armchair with her shoes off, feet curled under her like a schoolgirl, despite the pencil skirt.

Wilson carried the ginger ale, and of course, another coaster, to Cuddy, before settling on the far end of the sofa.

House carried his non-alcoholic beer and coaster to the sofa and set it on the end table before sitting down. Wilson had domesticated him. Well, it was worth it just to have Wilson around and fussing.

Cuddy began, "I have news."

"We can tell it was quite a meeting," Wilson observed.

"Great power suit," House interjected, earning a dirty look from Cuddy that somehow was also a little coy.

"So what's your news?" Wilson got them back on track.

"You are looking at the new Director of Princeton General Hospital."

"You mean you're coming back to Princeton?"

"In about a month. I have to give notice at NIH, put my place in Maryland on the market, and find a place to rent here."

"Lisa, congratulations!" Wilson exclaimed. "That is absolutely wonderful. I have missed you." He stood up and took her hands.

"Thank you. I guess I've felt that Princeton was home for a long time. It's good to be coming home."

"Will you move back into your house?" Wilson asked. House winced.

"My renters have a lease," she explained smoothly. "They just signed on for another year."

"You could stay at my apartment," House offered, "until you get a permanent place. I could leave the furniture and piano and move the portable stuff out of there. I don't think having you and Rachel there would violate conditions of my bail."

"My sister might have me committed."

House winced again. "Your sister might put out a contract on me. If you find my cooling corpse by my motorcycle, ask Julia."

"Don't say that!" Cuddy barked at him. "Besides, it's winter. Why are you riding around on that death trap?"

"Cuddy," House said gently, "I'm not allowed to buy a car right now."

"Oh."

"Between Foreman and Chase and me, we see that he's not out on that thing in bad weather," Wilson interjected. "Thirteen, too. And Cameron is back. She drives him around sometimes when she isn't running home to her husband and baby."

"Thank you," Cuddy said fervently. "You can't pretend no one likes you anymore," she told House. He grimaced and she looked at that wonderful, mobile, scruffy face and laughed. "Sorry, you ruined your street cred with what you did for Wilson."

"I'm working on getting it back," he muttered.

HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC

II. Rachel Returns

The intercom from the loft's lobby buzzed, right on time. Wilson pressed the button. "James, it's me, Lisa."

"Come on up, Lisa," Wilson told her, as he pressed the button to open the door.

Rachel skipped into the room in front of Cuddy. "Uncle James!" she called. Wilson bent down and she threw her arms around his neck. He picked her up and whirled her around.

When Wilson set her back on the floor, Rachel stopped and stared at House. "Do you remember Doctor House, Rachel?" Cuddy asked.

The little girl stared at his cane for a moment. Then her eyes widened. "Captain!" she shouted.

She remembered him. House found himself tearing up. He bent down and said, "It's my matey. Are you keeping the pirate code?"

"Aye, aye, Captain, you bloody scalawag," she told him. She looked at his cane and scrunched up her eyes. "You got hurt. My Mama and me, we, we…" She couldn't think of the word for what must have been a traumatic event in her young life. House remembered all the blood in his bathtub. Rachel stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his good leg. "House," she said, as if she hadn't said his name in a great while. Well, she probably hadn't. "Mama and me, we wrote you a get-well letter."

House bent down and rested his forehead on her hair. "I still have your letter, Rachel. It made me feel better."

Wilson cleared his throat, obviously moved that Rachel remembered House. "If we're going to get House's stuff out of the way and get you moved in for now, we'd better get going."

House straightened. "Yeah. I'm on a short leash, time-wise. Our helpers should be at my place in a few minutes."

House talked Chase and Thirteen into helping him move some of his personal things to Wilson's loft to make room for Cuddy. They left the furniture but moved House's clothes and any portable musical instruments. They packed up the books and moved them to a storage unit.

"You sent me some piano music for Rachel, remember,'" she told House. "Do you mind if we use it?"

"No. I know you'll take good care of the piano. Maybe I can show her a few things. A bad teacher can wreck learning an instrument."

"She'd love it."

In the afternoon, House helped Rachel and Cuddy to unpack, mostly by distracting Rachel. They sat on the floor of the office that had been converted into her bedroom, listening to the flurry of activity in the apartment beyond the door. They played with her Gameboy and with her pirate doll. They practiced their pirate lingo. Rachel showed him her dolls and her toy horses and toy cats and toy dogs and legos and her pirate hat and pirate sword. Five-year-olds are exhausting, even to themselves. Eventually, he slid into a corner and pulled Rachel into his lap when she began to get sleepy. They dozed together and he woke up slowly to find Cuddy taking pictures of them with her cell phone. "Don't show that to my team," he begged her.

"Too late. They've seen you. Like I keep telling you, your cover is blown."

He snorted. Rachel woke up and jumped up, unintentionally pushing off his belly. He gave a very loud, "Oof!" She giggled.

"Mama, we played pirates, House and me," she said proudly, waving her plastic cutlass.

"This is all your fault," Cuddy told him with mock sorrow. "My daughter wants to be a pirate princess. Whatever that is."

House grinned. "I was gone for two years. Someone must have been reinforcing it." He groaned. "Give me a hand up."

Wilson peered over Cuddy's shoulder. "Slacking off, again?"

"I was keeping the munchkin busy."

"Yes, I see that," Wilson drawled. He pushed past Cuddy and reached a hand out to House. "Come on. I ordered pizza. Then you have a curfew. We have to get back to the loft."


	2. Chapter 2

III. Playing House

The intercom from the loft's lobby buzzed, right on time. Wilson pressed the button. "James, it's me, Lisa."

"Come on up, Lisa," Wilson told her, as he pressed the button to open the door.

Cuddy wore a different suit of armor this time, an elegant and form-fitting lavender suit, another pencil skirt, the blouse more low-cut than last time in a paler lavender, but not quite as low as her usual top at Princeton Plainsboro. The earrings were a bit more aggressive, gold, swinging tiny enameled lavender flowers on a gold stem. The almost modest neckline still disappointed House, but she was magnificent. He accepted her quick kiss on his cheek with gratitude, one hand firmly on his cane, the other shoved into his pocket to keep from grabbing her.

"My renters want to buy my house," she told the two men. "You had it repaired so beautifully that apparently it's irresistible," she complained to House.

"I owed it to you," House muttered, looking down in shame.

Cuddy smiled at him, the gorgeous smile that he loved to lose himself in. "I'm going to sell it to them. I need more room, and maybe more yard for Rachel. A patio would be great, and a swing set. You know I'm going to have to entertain more than I did at Princeton Plainsboro. And I need room for a piano for Rachel. She wants to learn how to play." Cuddy looked up at House, challenging him. "She says she wants to play like House."

"She remembers?" House asked, startled.

"Well, she's still playing pirate," Cuddy growled at him. "You watched that filthy cartoon with her. She's obsessed with pirates, and playing piano like, and I quote, 'Like House.'"

House couldn't keep the smirk entirely off his face. "I have that effect on Cuddy women."

"You mean like my sister, who would like to see you tarred and feathered?"

"Not all Cuddys show good taste," House responded.

HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC

IV. Unequal Power

The intercom from the loft's lobby buzzed, right on time. Wilson pressed the button. "James, it's me, Lisa."

"Come on up, Lisa," Wilson told her, as he pressed the button to open the door.

She was wearing another power suit, a rich gray tweed with green and blue threads. Her blouse was grayish blue silk, the conservative color set off her gray-blue eyes. The neckline, however, below the discreet gold locket, was closer to the necklines Cuddy used to wear.

Cuddy sat down next to House on the sofa. They were just touching. He had trouble taking his eyes off her neckline, but when he looked up, he was lost in her beautiful eyes.

She talked animatedly about the residency program she was expanding at Princeton General. As she moved her hands to illustrate her points, her hip moved against him. House tried to concentrate on her hands, on her voice, on what she was saying, but all he could seem to think about was her body, a little too close to him.

Wilson's cell phone rang. The ring tone was the melody from "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina," from _Evita_, because it drove House crazy. Wilson grabbed it and walked away from House and Cuddy.

"Do you want to come to work for me?" Cuddy challenged House. "I'd like to start a diagnostic medicine department at Princeton General."

House shook his head. "I think we proved that it wouldn't work, at least not long term. There's too much history between us."

"No deflection?"

"No medical license right now, for one thing. And there won't be one until my appeal and other legal issues are resolved, if ever." He was tapping the cane restlessly against the floor between his feet. "And it isn't just history," he muttered. He looked up at her, meeting her gaze. "But thank you."

Cuddy couldn't let it drop. "What wouldn't work?"

"You, as my boss. I think we proved that wasn't a good idea." He smirked. "Now if we reversed it, me, in charge, I would be a benevolent dictator, with a new dress code for my underlings."

"Chase in a short skirt?" She glared at House. "We worked together pretty well, until, well, you know," she told him.

"Yeah, we did." He admitted.

"So you don't think we could do it again?"

"Cuddy, I'm not even a real doctor now. I'm a consultant. But the unequal power situation, it didn't work once we were together as a couple. And then I let the whole thing get out of hand."

"You can't take responsibility for everything, House. I was your supervisor. It was my job to handle it and I didn't. Besides, we're not together anymore."

"Let's not rehash it. Please, Cuddy. Tell me about Rachel. Tell me about your job and your plans and what kind of music you've been listening to. Just talk to me. I missed you so much."

"I was here last week." Subtly, she snuggled even closer to him.

"Cuddy, what are you doing?"

"Getting comfortable. I won't break, House."

"I broke your dining room."

Boldly, she grabbed his hand that was pinned between them. "I find myself thinking of it as the painful beginning of a home renovation project."

House got up and backed off to the overstuffed chair on the other side of the end table. "Please, Cuddy. I can't think of it that way."

"Do I frighten you, House?"

"I frighten me. And you should be afraid of me. It's too easy to blame drugs, or pain, or even my emotional immaturity." He was panting as if he had been running. "Please, just talk to me. I need you, but I never want to hurt you, not you, or Rachel, or Wilson, not ever again."

Wilson walked back into the living room. "I ordered pizza and a salad. Lisa, help me get some plates and some more soda." Cuddy nodded and got up to lay out some plates and cutlery. "Are you okay?" he asked House softly.

"I don't know."

"Well, just play it by ear. You two have too much history to treat each other like strangers."

"I'll be in my room," he said, and turned on his heel. He thumped across the loft with his uneven gait and went into his room. He slammed his door. When Wilson knocked on his door, he said, "Just put the leftovers in the fridge. I'll eat later."

Cuddy knocked on the door next. "House, I'm sorry. Please come out." When he didn't answer, she said, "House, please."

"Lisa, not tonight. I can't."

"House, what did I do?"

"It's not what you did. Please, Cuddy. I've got no right to want you. Don't give me hope. I'm just so grateful that you're willing to talk to me. Just talk to me, but not now." He turned on the IPOD in the room to a Muddy Waters recording, then cranked up the volume. He didn't come out while she was still there.


	3. Chapter 3

V. Peace or Pizza

The intercom from the loft's lobby buzzed, right on time. Wilson pressed the button. "James, it's me, Lisa."

"Come on up, Lisa," Wilson told her, as he pressed the button to open the door.

House stayed by the overstuffed chair, so Cuddy couldn't sit next to him, but as always, he rose and bent over to kiss her cheek. Her suit was a stunning light amber color, with a dark, low-cut amber blouse and a gold and amber necklace setting off the column of her throat. She wore matching earrings. It was all he could do to keep from grabbing her.

Wilson's phone rang, still the annoying melody from _Evita_. He walked off into the kitchen to take the call.

"Are we over the argument from last week?" Cuddy asked House.

"There was no argument. I was just protecting you."

"What if I don't need protection?"

Mercifully, Wilson finished his phone call. "Gotta go. Mr. Rivera isn't going to last until morning."

"Wilson, you're still working part time," House protested. "You can't stay there all night."

"He's alone. His wife is dead. No kids. No one should die alone. You, of all people, should appreciate that."

"You're my best friend, not my patient."

Wilson wrapped a scarf around his neck, pulled on a hat, and shrugged into his coat. "I'll take a nap in my office if I get tired. Will you two be okay?"

Cuddy stood up. "I should go."

House stood too. "Wait," he begged her. "Please. I'll behave. Just stay and talk for a while."

Cuddy searched his face. She put her purse back on the end table. "All right, a little while." She walked over to Wilson and stretched to kiss him on the cheek. "Take care." She watched him walk out the door. Then she returned to the sofa. She looked up at House and his beautiful eyes. "You really think we can't work together?" she asked.

"Together, yes," he said seriously. "But not in an unequal power situation. It doesn't work with us, because inevitably, it won't just be about work."

"Can we survive, with both of us here in Princeton, separately?"

"As long as I can see you sometimes. Meet here. Let Wilson be our chaperone."

"Wilson isn't here right now."

House worried the top of his cane. "Cuddy, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, I think. What?"

"Why didn't you come to my funeral? Did you know I wasn't really dead?"

"No, I didn't. But it was a mock funeral."

"Not really. I was dead, as far as anyone knew. I hadn't meant for it to go so far, but when the beam collapsed in that burning warehouse, I saw my chance to be with Wilson for his last few months, instead of going to prison. The funeral was inevitable."

"I mourned you, in my own way."

"What, a victory dance in the middle of your apartment?"

"Ass." She stood in front of him, so he couldn't look away. "That morning, I dropped Rachel off at her daycare. During the funeral, I opened a bottle of wine and drank the whole thing, while looking at pictures on my computer. I have a lot of pictures of you. I think I went through an entire box of Kleenex."

His mouth quirked up in a half smile. "What kind of wine?"

"Chardonnay."

"Of course. You couldn't even drink red wine during my funeral?"

"A nice Chianti reminded me of an inappropriate movie."

He laughed out loud at that. "Thank you," he told her. "Peace?"

"Peace," Cuddy agreed.

"Pizza?"

"Is that the same thing as peace?"

"It's a start."

"We'll order extra so Wilson can eat leftovers when he gets home. I'm buying."

The food arrived and they settled in around the coffee table, being careful not to upset their newfound truce.

HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC

VI. No Chaperone

The intercom from the loft's lobby buzzed, right on time. House pressed the button. "James, it's me, Lisa."

Wilson was at the hospital supervising a biopsy on a patient House's team had diagnosed only a few hours earlier.

"Wilson isn't here, Cuddy. Do you want to come up anyway?"

"Of course." He opened the door. She was in a maroon suit with a low-cut pink blouse. Her necklace was a gold chain. Her earrings matched. Her perfume was the same subtle, flowery scent he associated with her.

"Hi," he said. "Have a seat." He gestured at the sofa and took the chair for himself.

"Hi." They stared at each other. "Any word from your attorney."

"He's filed some more motions. I think he's trying to keep me out of prison by either delaying the authorities or confusing them."

"Whatever works." She patted the sofa beside her. "I wish you'd sit here."

"Cuddy, what are you doing?"

"It's too formal, you in your chair, me here. It's like visiting an elderly relative in an old folks' home."

"Get in practice for visiting me in prison," House muttered.

"Oh, no!" Cuddy exclaimed. "The whole point of hiring this high-powered attorney is to keep you out and get your medical license back."

"He thinks some time locked up is inevitable. We're hoping for minimum security."

"Please sit next to me," she begged him.

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because we know where it's going."

"We do? I'm not sure."

"We have to be sure."

"House, our chaperone is away. We've known each other over half our lives. I don't think I'm presuming anything when I say we've loved each other, been in love, over half our lives. Why aren't we sure?"

She stood up and walked over to stand in the cramped space between his knees and the coffee table. She bent down and wrapped her arms around his neck. He looked up and she touched her lips to his. She deepened the kiss. He could not pull away. He let his mouth, his lips, his tongue, explore her lips, then her open mouth. His eyes fell shut, but he didn't reach to hold her. "I've wanted to do that since I walked into this room three months ago," she told him.

House rested his forehead against her chest. "I know. But we have to stop."

Cuddy stood up and looked at him, full of challenge. "Why?"

"Because I can't risk it again. Lisa, I assaulted your home. I assaulted you. I don't want to be that man again. And if we got together and then it fell apart again, if I let you down, if I didn't meet your standards or your needs or something, it's going to break me. This time, it will break me and I won't be able to come back from it." He realized that his eyes were wet. He never cried, but now his eyes were wet and the tears ran down his cheeks and into his beard.

"I love you."

"I know, but it's not enough. I don't know if I can be the man I want to be for you. And you can't go into it assuming I won't be and it's only a matter of time until I do something that you can't stand and history repeats itself. Lisa, I've gotten to a precarious peace. I don't think I'll be violent again, but what if I'm wrong?"

She reached out and touched his face, then took his hand. Her hand was damp from his tears. "I have an idea."

"What?"

"Counseling as a couple. Because we need to think of us as 'we,' as permanent, as us against the world, no more games between us. I have to stop testing you. You have to stop seeing how far you can push me. We need to learn how to be together, because we can't stand being separate."

"All right."

"Just all right?"

"Lisa, I was learning to live without you, but the world lost a lot of color. I want the color back."

She leaned forward and kissed his forehead and his cheek. Her hand brushed his collar. "House, can I ask you a question?"

"What?"

"What would you have done if Wilson had refused treatment and died? Or even if he tried it and died anyway?"

"I wouldn't be sitting here."

"Of course you wouldn't. It's his apartment."

House took a deep breath and looked her in the eye. "Maybe I wouldn't be sitting anywhere."

"I don't understand."

"Lisa, let it go. He's alive. You're here."

"I came very close to losing you, didn't I?" she asked. She leaned forward and kissed him again, and again. He lingered over her mouth, but only held her hand, crushed between them. "I love you. I want to make love to you. I want you to make love to me."

"We can't."

"I'll make you a deal. I'll make you a few deals."

"Bargaining? Okay, I get to pick out what clothes you'll wear around the house…"

"You're an ass. But I think you're my ass."

"No, your ass is much bigger."

"House!"

"Yes, Ma'am," he said, with elaborate meekness.

"Well, then. Point one, we'll start couples counseling as soon as I get a recommendation for a counselor, probably not at either of our hospitals. Will that work?"

"I'll have to let my probation officer know where it is and get permission to be there. But what do I get out of this?"

Cuddy pulled his head down for another kiss. "Us." House reached around her, this time, and pulled her tight against him. He let his hand move over her back, tracing her shoulder blades, her spine, her tiny waist, until he remembered to lift his head to breathe.

"Lisa." He said her name reverently. "Are we making a commitment here?"

"Maybe we are. Maybe we shouldn't waste any more time."

"Do I get a ring, since I think you're proposing?"

"I think we're just going steady, yet." She kissed him again. He sat down on the sofa and pulled her down next to him. They ended up lying down with Cuddy on top of House. He held her as if she were a lifeline. "Let me make love to you. House, I thought you were dead. Remember that. I need to feel you inside me, all wonderful and alive."

"It's too soon. It's too fast."

"Role reversal is very interesting. But I've changed, House. Greg. House is the doctor. I'm in love with him, but I'm also in love with a man. Greg, I've been in love with you for half my life. I'm not going to break us this time. It's time for us now."

"What's point two?"

"I forget."

He acquiesced like a dam breaking. He pulled her back into a deep kiss and allowed her to push up his tee shirt and open the buckle on his belt and the fly on his jeans. His hands roamed around her. "We'll mess up your power suit," he murmured.

Cuddy sat up and pulled off her jacket and dropped it behind the sofa. The ivory silk shell followed. She reached behind her and unzipped her skirt. She hopped to her feet and slid it off. Her slip and panty hose followed.

"I'm cold," he complained. She walked back to him in her ivory lace underwear and pearl necklace, hips swaying. "You are so beautiful, so perfect," he murmured. He thought if he ever prayed, it would sound like that. Songs of praise. "Cuddy. Lisa, I've missed you." House lifted his hips up and she helped him to slide his jeans down and pulled them off. His briefs followed.

Then Cuddy made a show of removing her bra, then her panties. She swung her leg over him. "Let me keep you warm." He sighed as she settled on him. He held her hips to guide her.

"Lisa," he groaned, and gave himself up to the joy of being with her again.

They ended up in his bed in Wilson's second bedroom. House held Cuddy as if she were the finest crystal. Half asleep he couldn't keep his hands from running across her back or playing with the curls that lay on her neck. He pried his eyes open as she kissed him gently. "I'd better get dressed or we'll shock Wilson," she said, her voice heavy with reluctance.

"I don't want to let go. Lisa, I'll never want to let go." He kissed her this time and wrapped his arms around her. "Poor Wilson. But he'll get over it. Did you know he's been dating again?"

"Really? Who?"

"That geologist from the university he was dating before he was diagnosed with cancer. He called her last week, when he came home from the hospital after surgery."

"Good for him!" She kissed House again, long and slow. "I'm going. The babysitter has to get home."

"Will Rachel accept us as a couple?" he asked.

"Rachel has never stopped adoring you."

A stunning thought shook him. He cleared his throat. "Lisa, we're acting like horny teenagers. Are you on the pill?"

"I'm forty-six. Remember, I've tried to get pregnant. You helped me with injections. The one time fertility treatments worked, I lost it at six weeks. Pregnancy is pretty unlikely." She raised herself up on one elbow. "You never wanted to be a father." It wasn't a question.

"I don't think I'd be a good father, but with you, well, it wouldn't be a bad thing. You'd keep me in line."

Lisa looked startled. "You really wouldn't mind? You and Stacy never had a child. You said you didn't want one."

"You aren't Stacy. You are so much deeper and more loving than Stacy. You are a great mother now."

Lisa began to cry. House reached up to touch her wet cheek. "Hey, what did I say?"

"That's the most beautiful thing you've ever said to me. Or the second-most. The most beautiful you said the first time I saw you when I came to visit you and Wilson. You said that you remembered everything about every time we were together. Well, I'm going to burst your bubble. Despite your carefully constructed image, you are great with kids! In fact, you are probably better with kids than grown-ups. You don't talk down to them. They trust you because they know that you haven't lied to them. Rachel asks about you all the time." She grinned. "I know. I know. Everybody lies."

House snorted but pulled her back into his embrace. "Screw Wilson's delicate sensibilities."

Cuddy laughed and hugged him back. "I have to get home."

"Home, huh? It's my old apartment."

"It smells like you. It looks like you. Right now, it's home."


	4. Chapter 4

VII. It's Late

The intercom from the loft's lobby buzzed, right on time. Wilson pressed the button. "James, it's me, Lisa."

"Come on up, Lisa," Wilson told her, as he pressed the button to open the door.

Cuddy came in jeans and a coral colored sweater. She wore sneakers and seemed very young. She pulled House aside. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure. Wilson, we'll be in the bedroom."

House grabbed his cane and led Cuddy down the short hallway. He thought for a minute how tiny she was, in sneakers, not heels. "What's wrong?"

Cuddy started wringing her hands. "I'm late."

"Late?"

"House, my period, it's late. It's gotten a bit erratic, but it's really late."

"You're under a lot of stress right now, moving, changing jobs, most of your stuff in storage."

"But would you mind, if it's more than that?"

House grabbed her and picked her up until he could kiss her without bending down. The joy he felt, and the fear, startled him. "No. I'd worry about you, but I'd love it. Literally, I would love it." He let her slide down against him. "Love it. Love you."

Cuddy wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a long, hot, wet kiss. That part of his brain that never turned off noticed that his toes were curling, literally. He stood there, dazed, as she said, "Thank you. Thank you, and I love you."

HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC

VIII. Whose Fault Is it?

The intercom from the loft's lobby buzzed, right on time. Wilson pressed the button. "James, it's me, Lisa."

"Come on up, Lisa," he responded. When he opened the door for her, he told her, "House is tied up on a case."

"How are you?" she asked, as she stood on her toes to give Wilson a kiss on the cheek. "I'll give him a call right now," she told him.

House's phone rang at his desk while he was bouncing his ball off the wall and staring at a list of symptoms on the portable white board. He glanced at the caller ID. "Doctor Cuddy, I presume," he answered.

"It's all your fault," she said, and she was laughing.

Relieved he wasn't in trouble, he responded, "What?"

"I spent an hour throwing up while trying to get dressed this morning. Helluva way to start the third month of a new job."

"Were you able to get Rachel to school all right?"

"Yeah. I told her not to worry. I'm not really sick."

"Are you sure you're not?"

"Morning sickness, House. Real morning sickness. I'm happy. Well, not when I'm crouched over the toilet, but the rest of the time."

"What are you wearing?"

"You know me, another power suit."

"What color?"

"It's blue. My blouse is paler blue."

"Your neckline was too high in that gray suit."

"You're not at Princeton General. I have no reason to wear one of your favorites here."

"I'll dream of you all day, in your proper blue suit."

"How's your case?"

"It's been tough. I'm close, but I can't quite pull it together. I'm going to go bug Wilson when he gets here, see if he can spark something. I went to bother Cameron in ER, but she's home with her three-year-old. The little one has the flu. Cameron's had morning sickness too, by the way. God, I'm surrounded by nauseous women…"

More laughter over the phone. "I miss you, House. The hospital seems bland without you to shake things up."

"Another job offer, Doctor Cuddy? Foreman might want to offer you a trade today. I had to get him to allow my team to do a brain biopsy."

"Did you get your biopsy?"

"Of course. I was right."

"Have a good day, House."

"You too, Doctor Cuddy. I'll be thinking of you all day, and fantasizing about your underwear."

"It's pale blue, like my blouse."

"I like red better."

"I'm saving red for the weekend."

"I can't wait. Bye, Cuddy."

"Bye, House."


	5. Chapter 5

IX. Legal Issues and a Ring

The intercom from the loft's lobby buzzed, right on time. Wilson pressed the button. "James, it's me, Lisa."

"We're on the way down," Wilson responded. "House and I are all ready to go. Brace yourself. He looks very presentable."

House's appeal hearing was scheduled for two weeks away. He and Wilson and Cuddy met with his attorney, David Schiff. House introduced her. Wilson jumped up to bring her a chair and set it next to House. She sat down and linked her arm through House's arm. The attorney looked startled, then pleased.

"Can you prove that you two are reconciled?" Schiff asked.

House produced a document from their couples counselor. The attorney reviewed it quickly. "She seems to think you're making great progress," he noted. And I gather you have something else to show me?"

Cuddy smiled a sweet and self-satisfied smile. She caressed her belly, the barely visible swelling there. "We've just passed the first trimester. It might be more obvious in a couple weeks," she said.

"Congratulations," he said. House realized his own face seemed to be fixed in an expression he associated with a cartoon cat and a saucer full of cream, and however serious this meeting was, he couldn't seem to erase the grin entirely. Oh, he was losing his mind again, but this time, he didn't mind it. The pun made him grin.

They got down to what to expect in the hearing. House's witnesses had been contacted and had been prepped. The attorney thought that actual prison time might be kept to a few months.

After the meeting, the three adjourned to Wilson's loft to discuss their options and eat a take-out lunch. "Are you going to be okay, looking for a home for us while I'm locked up, with room for a grand piano and a potential to be handicap-friendly, if I need it?"

"As long as you can get the pictures I'll send to you. They said it would be minimum security and you'll have access to a computer. How about a yard? I'd like a yard for the kids."

House waggled his eyebrows. "Do I get a riding mower?"

"No!" Cuddy said, too quickly. "I can picture you doing wheelies on it."

"I was thinking more about cutting crop circles..."

Cuddy was reduced to giggles, an odd state for the high-powered director of a major hospital. "We'll hire someone to take care of the yard. I've never had time to do it myself anyway."

"Should we look for a place with a mother-in-law apartment?" House asked reasonably.

"Live with my mother? Are you out of your mind? Remember what she did the last time I suggested it."

He closed his eyes. "All too well. Anyway, I can just see the contract, closing to be delayed until I'm released from prison…"

Lisa laughed and tucked her arm around his elbow possessively. He loved it. He loved letting her handle him.

His mood shifted. God, he was acting like he was the one flooded with pregnancy hormones. "Lisa, I will worry about you. You're pregnant and older than, well, than most women with a first pregnancy, or at least the first that has gotten past the first trimester."

Cuddy caressed his scuffy face. "I'm a doctor, remember? I'm surrounded by doctors. I'll be fine."

He turned his face to kiss her palm. After a minute, he recalled the rest of his agenda for the day. "Lisa, give me a minute. You said you didn't have anything pressing right away?" She nodded. House phoned his probation officer. "I need to go off the grid for an hour or so," he told her, "if you could alert the monitoring company". He listened to her response. "Well, it might look funny for an ex-con. I want to take my girlfriend, make that the mother of my child, to a jewelry store. I want my ring on her finger before I go back to prison."

There was a pause. He was grateful the officer was a woman. He had a feeling she would go along with such a romantic request. "Yeah, I'll call as soon as I'm back to work." He turned to Cuddy. "Have an hour free?" he asked, taking her hand in his.

"I do," she said, knowing she was agreeing to more than a trip to a shop.

"Good."

They found a blue sapphire with a white diamond on either side. The simple gold setting was broken by the outline of a single rose etched around each diamond. It came in a blue silk box the color of the sapphire. Cuddy had been drawn to it immediately and House had pulled out his credit card to pay for it with a certainty he rarely felt. He tucked the box into his pocket.

He also purchased a small, heart-shaped locket and discussed an inscription with the jeweler. "We have to tell Rachel. Come over this weekend with her," he asked her. "I'll make us an appropriate dinner. I wish we could celebrate with champagne, but I'm not allowed and you're pregnant. It'll have to be grape juice and soda. And I'll propose to both of you."

Cuddy wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Ginger ale would be fine, too."

Back in her car, House swiveled in the passenger seat to look at her. "You're sure?" he asked, shy suddenly. "I'm not a very good bet."

"I think I've been sure since I met that cocky medical student in the university bookstore. You just spent a fortune on a really lovely engagement ring. Why ask now?"

House worried the handle of his cane with his hands. "I am an ex-con, an addict, a mental patient, I've had four heart incidents, I've been shot, I have taken pain medication that will shorten my life, even if I'm off of it for now. I can't guarantee I'll be there for you and Rachel and our baby."

Cuddy rested her hand on his cheek for just a second. "No one has a guarantee. Love me. Be with me. Be there for our children now, and we'll hope for the future. That's all anyone can hope for."

With the seatbelt buckled, House couldn't reach her to kiss her. He took her hand and pressed a kiss into the palm. "Well, no one can accuse us of rushing into anything," he observed.

HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC ~ HWC

X. At Last

The intercom from the loft's lobby buzzed, right on time. Wilson pressed the button. "James, it's me, Lisa."

"Come on in Lisa. House is here. I'm on the way out." Wilson waited by the door to let her in, before leaving for his Saturday night date with Fiona Buchanan. The date with Fiona had become a regular occurrence for them. House approved. Cancer had changed Wilson. Fiona, an assistant professor at Princeton, was attractive, self-confident, genuinely nice, and not at all the sort of needy woman Wilson used to connect with before his illness and road trip with House.

Making something for dinner that was both kid-friendly and elegant was a challenge. House settled on a stepped-up version of macaroni and cheese with some green peas and a cherry tart for dessert. He had finished his last case of the week Saturday morning, stumbled back to the loft for a nap, but still managed to have dinner ready by the time Cuddy and Rachel showed up at six o'clock. Rachel's presence was going to keep the evening from going R-rated, but House was, for the first time, not just working on being part of a couple; he was building a family.

They had a jolly dinner. Rachel loved being with her Mama and her favorite playmate. After they cleared the table, they settled in the living room. Lisa poured ginger ale in some of Wilson's good crystal. She set the glasses on the table before them.

House stood up. "This is kind of a formal occasion," he said. He cleared his throat and used a spoon to tap his glass. It made a pleasing ring. Rachel giggled. "This is the first time I've done this," he told the two Cuddys sitting in front of him. "I saved it for you. First of all, Rachel, I need to ask you if you would mind if your mother and I got married."

Rachel looked very serious, considering it. "Would I still be your matey?" she asked.

"You would, but you would be something even more special."

"What?"

"You would be my daughter," he told her, "for real."

"Would you be my Daddy?" she asked, getting to the point quickly.

He got down on one knee so he could look her in the eye. "Rachel, I would be your Papa. Is that okay?"

"Is Papa like Daddy?"

"It's exactly alike. I just think it's nicer."

"Okay." She flung her arms around his neck and gave him a big, wet kiss on his cheek. "Papa," she said happily. He looked over her dark hair at Cuddy, who was sitting on the sofa. Cuddy's eyes were wet.

House kissed the top of Rachel's head and reached into his back pocket for a little leather box. "This is for you, Rachel." He opened it and took out a delicate gold chain with a heart-shaped locket suspended on it in a gold setting. "This is for you, because you said that I can be your Papa, so when you look at it, you can remember that we made a promise today." He showed her the clasp and opened it so she could see the picture within of the three of them together that had been taken at his apartment a few months earlier. House showed her the inscription on the back, 'From Papa, to my daughter, Rachel.' He gave her a big hug and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his chin. "Now," he said, "Since I have your approval, I need to ask your Mama an important question."

House climbed to his feet, walked the two steps to Cuddy, and more laboriously this time, got down on his knee again. He got the little blue, silk box out of his jeans pocket. "Lisa Cuddy," he began, then swallowed and looked down. "Lisa, I don't know why you want to be with me. I don't know how… Lisa, I want…I hope you would…" He stopped. "Dammit. I don't usually get this tongue-tied." He swallowed. "Lisa, I have loved you since we met at the University of Michigan. I still love you. Would you marry me?"

Cuddy reached forward to caress his cheek. "I would be honored." She smiled her one-hundred-watt smile. "It's been a very long and complicated courtship. But we made it. Yes, I would. I will." He stood and sat down between Lisa and Rachel and embraced Cuddy. She held out her left hand and he slid the ring onto her ring finger. "It's gorgeous. Thank you. I love you." She leaned to him and they kissed. His hands roamed across her back and shoulders. "And thank you for Rachel's little brother or sister."

They were lost in each other until a little hand tugged on his tee shirt. "Papa. House. Mama." House shook his head and looked down, growled, picked Rachel up, and pulled her between them. He kissed her nose and her chin, big sloppy kisses, until all three were laughing uncontrollably.

"We did it," he told Cuddy. "I think we've come through. Would you believe it?" And overcome, he rested his forehead against his two girls, and felt a tremendous peace wash over him. Somehow, they had come through all the trouble and he had come home.


End file.
